Siz Education | Non-Existent Crystal

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At first glance, this is just a beautiful stone, and, frankly, not the most beautiful. But, from the point of view of science, the existence of this object wasn’t proven until 1982. Although, humanity, without knowing it, was able to artificially create quasicrystals more than 75 years ago during the test of the first atomic bomb.

Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear device. That is why the first quasicrystal discovered at the site of the explosion was named Trinitite. image source

What is the peculiarity of this cobblestone? As we know from physics lessons, there are 3 main aggregate states of matter: liquid, solid, gaseous. If you remembered about the plasma, you passed the test… there are 4 statets ;)

A crystal is a solid, and every solid must have an atomic lattice with a clear structure. The crystal lattice in a classic crystal consists of identical shaped lego pieces that are symmetrically arranged in repeating blocks. Quasicrystals violate this law.

Classical crystal structure. image source

Yes, they also have Lego parts, their structure is ordered, but this is a set of different parts. This design is not only made of 4-pin (or 3, or 6) parts, it can also contain 5, 10 and 12 pin parts. Classic crystals, can only consist of such geometric figures, which you can "fold" together on a plane without gaps. Because of this, their physical characteristics (strength, thermal conductivity, refraction) have a number of limitations.

Structure of quasicrystals image source

Due to their diverse internal structure, quasicrystals exhibit unimaginable physical properties: super strength, and super-resistance to heating, and non-conduction of electricity. Quasicrystals are promising candidates for materials for high energy storage, metal matrix components, thermal barriers, exotic coatings, infrared sensors, high power lasers and electromagnetism.

So it is quite possible that in a few decades, the Superman's suit, created on the basis of quasicrystals, will be something more than a fiction from the comics. Surprisingly, natural quasicrystals have been found only in meteorites. Maybe the creators of comics have always known more than ordinary people ...

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#Sciencepop - science popularization. I suggest you use this tag in order to share interesting news, photos, stories from the world of science in a short format. Hundreds of scientific discoveries occur around the world every day. But they may contain insufficient data to create a full-fledged article or seem rather boring for usual readers, because of the strong scientific specifics. Although, I see that steemit community loves science in all its manifestations.